Naruto: Conflicts
by TwilightLink20xx
Summary: She opened up to him, showed him her heart and watched it get crushed. The saddest thing was, she wasn't the only one getting crushed. NaruSaku, loosely based off of Chapter 469. One-Shot.


Conflicts

A Naruto One-Shot

by TwilightLink20xx

Disclaimer: Naruto is © and TM Massashi Kishimoto, all characters are his, and some storyline elements are his. The only thing that belongs to me is the story itself. Enjoy.

A pink-haired girl sat in the cold, her head tucked in the tan robe that kept her from the elements. Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she pressed her face further into the cloth, images of the past few minutes flashing through her head. She had walked into the middle of nowhere, just barely within eye-shot of the small town. Only moments ago was she just entering that same town with her composure in tact and felt in her heart that everything was right. But here she was, sitting there, crying yet again.

_It's because I blew it again..._ She thought, _I said I wasn't going to make any more mistakes, and here I go again! _She whimpered, the cold snow gently falling on her head. _I thought it would make him happy, that he would understand... All I wanted was for him to stop killing himself over that stupid promise, and now I've made it worse... Why, Sakura, why did you just have to screw up those words!_

Sakura Haruno wiped the tears off her face, unable to stop herself from crying. She had told Naruto that she loved him in order to try to get him to call off the promise that he'd made to her when they were only 13 years old. Not only did Naruto see that she was hiding something from him, but that she was trying to keep herself from becoming emotionally involved with the fate of their former teammate Sasuke Uchiha. She claimed she no longer felt anything for him, which in a way was true, she no longer loved him, but Naruto took it in a completely different context. Naruto thought that she meant that she didn't care about him at all, and called her out on it.

Naruto had her tell him everything. The others wanted Sasuke dead, and she was supposed to break the news to him. She wanted so badly to tell him just why she was trying to stop it all, but she couldn't even get that far. The second she told him that they wanted him dead, he stopped right there and questioned her completely. He accused her of giving up for even considering the option at this point, told her that he wanted no part of the plan, and stormed off into the inn he was staying at previously. The others were watching them, and were going to say something, but she shook her head at them and told them not to worry. That's when she left the village for a little bit. And that's when the tears began to fall.

_Why doesn't he understand that I wasn't saying we need to give up? I don't want to lose him because of this stupid promise, I'm not willing to have him sacrificed over this! I know he wants to bring Sasuke back for his own good too, but he needs to understand!_ She sniffled, _What Sasuke has decided isn't his fault, he shouldn't be doing this to himself, Sasuke __**chose**__!... I only want him to be happy... I just can't stand this, I thought he loved me, thought that if I explained it all, maybe then he'd understand..._

Sakura shook her head, You're_ assuming too much, Sakura, this is ridiculous. You know you should have just told him everything in reverse. Maybe if you told him __**why**__ you felt he needed to move on after you said the plan, he would have believed you... _She fell on her side, not caring about what little dignity she had left, embracing the cold snow touching her legs. _I just want to die..._

*****

Naruto Uzumaki cried. It was all he could really think to do. The girl of his dreams confessed to him and all for what? Just to hurt him more and stop him from saving his best friend. Part of him wanted to believe Sakura, but the rest of him felt utterly betrayed. She was asking to not only give up on his best friend, but her own happiness. He didn't want that for her, not at all.

_Sakura-chan still cares about Sasuke,_ Naruto thought, _I'm no genius, but it's pretty obvious. I __just... _He wiped the tears from his eyes, _Doesn't she understand that her happiness is more than enough for me? I don't want her pity. If her love isn't true, if it isn't real, I could NEVER accept it, it'd kill me to see her like that... _He rolled over on the bed he lied on, starting to pull himself in a bit more, _I've always been okay with this... With watching her from a distance, never knowing what feeling love from someone else ever felt like... Sakura-chan is the only girl I could ever love, it'd be unfair to anyone else. _

_But, _his mind continued, _whenever I'm around her... There's this feeling in the pit of my stomach, I can't shake it off, but it isn't a complete distraction. It feels so strange, and it's like I can barely live without it... Whenever Sakura's not around, it just feels so weird, almost lonely. And when she hurts, it feels like I'm being stabbed in the gut. It hurts so much, worse than when I actually get hurt... _He sighed, _Doesn't she understand that she is the most important person in the world to me? I've always known she never loved me back... But I'm okay with that. I know she wouldn't like this but it's how I feel about her, that she is the only one I could ever love because she IS Sakura-chan! She has my heart... I just wish she didn't play with it like that..._

He shook the thought off, pushing himself off the bed. He looked out the window, and just outside the village he could see a small tan figure lying in the snow. He placed his hand on the window, squinting his eyes to try to see what it was. He instantly figured out who it was the second he saw a pink speck, and darted out the door. Only one thought flashed through his mind: _What have I done...!_

*****

Sakura continued to sob, quietly wanting it all to end. She felt like a tiny peace of her had died back there, and that she'd never be able to get it back. She curled up into a full ball, the cold had finally gotten to her and she was starting to go numb. She quietly sobbed, barely audible, and was starting to drift to sleep when she felt a warm hand placed on her right shoulder. She opened her eyes, slightly blinded and saw a blond haired shinobi she thought she'd never speak to again.

Naruto had a guilty pout on his face, barely able to look at Sakura in the eye. "Sakura-chan," he said, his eyes red from what Sakura could tell was likely crying of his own, she could see he still was. "I.." She began to get up and was taken off guard when he pulled her into a hug of his own. She could hear a hint of a sob in his voice, feeling a slight tremor of unease in his embrace. "Sakura-chan, forgive me, I..." he sobbed, "I shouldn't have run off like that, I never let you finished, and now I've..." He felt her cold skin on his cheek, and saw she was extremely pale. He could feel her shivering a bit, _Oh God, how long has she been out here?!? _"Sakura-chan, let's go inside, okay?"

Sakura was speechless, able to only nod and curl in closer to the boy. Naruto opened up his jacket and traded out her cloak with it, pulling her in closer in an attempt to get her warmer. He picked her up, carrying her into the town to get her warmed up. Sakura closed her eyes, smiling with her eyes closed and pressed her head closer to Naruto's chest, partially instinctively, but also because he was warm and she was freezing cold. To her, it had all happened so fast, but in her heart she knew... _You DO love me, don't you Naruto Uzumaki..._

*****

Sakura sat there, feet in a bucket of hot water, wrapped in blankets next to a hot fire. "You never finished telling me, Sakura-chan..." Naruto said, "What were you going to tell me?"

She coughed, cleared her throat, and then said "Right... Where was I..." She took a moment, "Oh yeah, Sasuke..." She looked at Naruto dead in the eye, "I'm not saying that our only option is to kill Sasuke, Naruto. I'm just saying that they might be right, that we shouldn't rule out the possibility that killing him may become the only option. I myself don't know what to do, Naruto, but I want you to know this; I'm with you whatever we decide to do."

Naruto looked around, "I know, Sakura-chan, I know... I've thought about that myself." He looked towards the side, "I have no clue who he is anymore, either... But I won't give up on him yet, I need to see him for myself, need to talk to him..." He looked towards Sakura, "If you don't want to come, you don't have to, but I need you to know this, Sakura-chan. I-"

"No, Naruto," Sakura said, cutting him off, "You're not going to get away with this again. I made you a promise too, I swore I'd be there with you when the time came, and I'm not changing my mind!" She stepped out of the water, taking the blankets off, walking towards him. "I want to help you Naruto, no matter what it takes. You're one of the most precious people to me, I want to be able to protect you too. You've always been there for me, Naruto..." She looked him in the eye, "So please, Naruto... Let me be there for you too."

Naruto looked at her eyes, seeing something he'd never seen in there before. Before, he only saw the girl he loved in those eyes, and while that was still there, there was something else in those same emerald green eyes. It was something he wanted all his life from her, but never quite got it...

He snickered, "Well, I guess you can come."

She gave him a coy smirk, "You guess?"

"Well," Naruto said, "considering you're up to it, it's not like I'm gonna be able to stop you anyway, huh?"

Sakura smiled, kissing Naruto on the cheek. "Come on, let's get ready, this is going to-"

"Naruto," a voice said, "we need to talk."

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, "what's going on?"

Kakashi stepped through the doorway, "A lot, Naruto, a lot. The alliance needs to speak with you, I'm afraid things have gotten a lot more complicated..."

*****

END

_**A/N: **_Well, there you have it guys! Yes, despite the cliffhanger, this is indeed a one-shot. The reason for that is because this is just my take on one of the worst-case scenarios that could play out from Sakura's confession in 469. What you have to keep in mind is that said confession was from Naruto's point of view, and I do think that this is one of the ways that it could all play out, just not exactly like this, lo.

Thanks to Mixora for beta-reading as always, it makes a HUGE difference, and it helps to get second opinions on this stuff! Until next time guys, TL signing off!


End file.
